EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 6, Issue 1 | Page 21

the EB-5 program because she wanted her four children to get a better education than they would in Hanoi. Her oldest child came to the U.S. for college, and the family was considering applying for an H-1B visa for him so he could stay in the country after graduation. But since he was under 21 at the time, Nguyen learned she could apply through the EB-5 program so the whole family could receive green cards. She went online, researched the program and found USIS, a firm with offices in the U.S. and Vietnam that coordinates investment through EB-5. She traveled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in October 2010 to visit the firm’s office there and attend a seminar put on by Chris Loc Dao, USIS’ Vietnam chairman. “At first I was really concerned about USIS because I didn’t know if it was a scam or not,” Nguyen said, “because that happened many times in Vietnam already.” projects in California communities devastated by the closure of military bases. It has grown to assist needy communities and their related local government agencies in 11 states. Because "I’m so happy that back then I made the right decision to do EB-5 and invest in CMB..." CMB targets high unemployment areas, its investors contribute $500,000 rather than $1 million. SUCCESSFUL EB-5 JOURNEY But she was reassured when one of the speakers at the USIS investment seminar was then-Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont. In 2012, the family received their green cards. Nguyen’s husband had been skeptical about the EB-5 process, but once the cards arrived, he was eager to show them off. “From that I knew I was choosing the right company,” she said. CMB started in 1997, investing in infrastructure construction Nguyen was happy her family could move to the United States EB5INVESTORS.COM 20